


Flowers and Chocolates? Or Queso and Kisses?

by ahyperactivehero (ahyperactiverhero)



Category: Bandom, Fall Out Boy
Genre: First Date, First Kiss, M/M, Peterick, Valentine's Day, Valentine's Day Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-20
Updated: 2018-03-20
Packaged: 2019-04-05 02:17:18
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,581
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14033991
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ahyperactiverhero/pseuds/ahyperactivehero
Summary: Pete's had a crush on Patrick since forever, and Joe is tired of it. He finally manages to convince Pete to ask Patrick on a date, which leads to the confusing "is this a date or not" situation.





	Flowers and Chocolates? Or Queso and Kisses?

Pete was wildly in love with Patrick Stump. This seemed to be common knowledge to everyone, except for Patrick himself. Joe was absolutely done with it, as he was currently staying with Pete and had heard every possible outcome of him confessing his love to Patrick a hundred different times by now, and Andy was almost certainly convinced that it was just a phase.

“Just fucking text him and ask him on a damn date already,” Joe said. He was currently laying on Pete's bed, his head hanging off of the edge and his feet up on the wall. He banged his feet on the wall for good measure and flipped the wall off when Pete's neighbors banged back.

“I already told you why I can't do that,” Pete said. He sighed as he dropped into the computer chair across the room. “The band is finally getting big and that could really ruin us if it didn't go well.” He ran a nervous hand through his straightened black hair. “Besides, what if he isn't even into guys?”

Joe laughed a loud, disbelieving laugh. “You've got to be kidding me, right? You've seen the way that dude looks at a guy with tight pants. Besides, I told you I caught him a Luke playing tonsil hockey one night at a party.”

Pete slumped even further into his chair. “Then what if that means that they're dating or something?”

A frustrated rush of air came from Joe as he flipped himself up right. “Listen, Pete, I can't tell you what to do- obviously, because you don't ever listen, but I can tell you what I know.” He waited until Pete looked up at him and he began counting on his fingers. “One, I know that you're absolutely head over heels for him and he'd be lucky to have you. Two, I've never seen you act this way over anyone before, and I'm afraid that if you don't do something about it you'll regret it. Three, Patrick's into dudes, at least in some capacity, and you guys are good enough friends that I don't think he'd be offended even if he wasn't. And four, I'm fucking tired of hearing you whine about him all day, so you can either suck it up and ask him, or you can shut up and drop the subject.”

The air was still and quiet as the two of them sat and let Joe's words sink in. Slowly, Pete sat up a bit, a grin beginning to form on his face. “Okay,” he said. “Alright, yeah. Okay! I'm going to message him and ask him to dinner tonight. It's Valentine's Day, so that's romantic, right?”

Joe scratched the back of his head. “I guess so, dude. Listen, I can't stay here and listen to this lovey dovey crap anymore, so I'm just gonna head over to Andy's and hang.” A mischievous smile spread over his face. “Besides, can't have me hanging around when you might just be getting lucky tonight, huh, Wentz?”

Pete spluttered in shock at that. Before he could even come up with a retort, Joe was gone. His front door slammed shut out in the living room of his apartment, leaving him to try and craft the perfect message to 'wow' Patrick.

Should he just come straight out and ask him on a date? Or should he play it safe and see if he even has plans tonight first? It was Valentine's Day, after all, and so he might already have a date. But surely he would have told Pete if he had a date, right? They talked about stuff like that all the time, up until Pete had realized he'd had a huge crush on Patrick.

Eventually he decided it was best to play it safe. He sent him a short message, just to see if he even had plans tonight.

_Pete: hey rickster, any wild and crazy plans tonite???_

Five minutes was all it took for Patrick to respond, but it felt like an eternity to Pete, with his heart beating wildly in his chest the entire time. He couldn't tell if his heart was honestly wanting him to be free or have plans at this point.

_Patrick: Hey Pete. And haha no, what kind of wild plans would I have had?_

_Pete smiled, his heart slowing down just a notch. Trust Patrick to try and play innocent._

_Pete: i dunno, maybe a wild date filled with passionate and loud, crazy sex???_

_Patrick: I think you're confusing me w/ you?_

_Pete: nah, i know you rickster, you've got a wild side to ya_

_Patrick: Did you literally just text me to ask if I was getting laid tonight?_

Now came the tricky part. How much finesse did Pete need to put into this? Too much too close to the mention of sex might have Patrick thinking that that was all he wanted from him (which wasn't accurate at all, he wanted everything with Patrick, not just sex), but too little would have him misunderstanding it all.

Maybe it was better that way? Allow Patrick to interpret it however he wanted it to be? That way it wouldn't all be on Pete if this went wrong?

_Pete: no, but that is a lovely topic we should return to some other time ;)_

“Got to just joke a little, keep it light, Wentz,” he said.

_Pete: i was just thinking that we should get dinner tonite???_

There was another gap between the messages that made Pete sweat a little. Had he already managed to scare him off?

_Patrick: Yeah sure! Do you want to get Taco Bell?_

Now that wasn't exactly as romantic as Pete had imagined. There was this perfect little Mexican restaurant that Joe had mentioned before that was supposed to be delicious. It was definitely more romantic that the grubby, grungy Taco Bell down the street from Patrick's house.

_Pete: love the mexican idea, but i've got a better place in mind. pick you up at 7???_

_Patrick: Sure, see ya then!_

Pete jumped up and gave the air a few victorious fist pumps like this was the end to an 80's movie. He'd just successfully asked Patrick on a date and the world hadn't ended. 

He sent a quick text to Joe, just to let him know the good news.

_Pete: just asked trick on a date and the world didn't end so this is going well. he said yes, btw_

_Joe: Great dude, thought I told you that I don't give a shit_

_Pete: thought you'd want to hear about the success story???_

_Joe: Thought wrong bro, thought wrong_

_Pete: just make sure andy hears the good news_

_Joe: I'm sure he'll be just as ecstatic as I am dude_

Pete tossed his phone onto his bed, unwilling to let Joe's rain cloud attitude get to him. He was going on a date with Patrick Stump! And sadly, he'd made it for only two hours from now, which meant time was seriously limited for him to get ready.

He took a shower and quickly dried his hair so he could re-straighten it. He knew that Patrick actually liked his hair when it was natural, but it just seemed appropriate to straighten his hair. Maybe because it gave him something to hide behind if this date went downhill?

He skipped the eyeliner, though, as it seemed more appropriate for the stage than a date with Patrick. This might also help to set this date in a different tone than the rest of their hangouts. If he was used to seeing him with makeup on, would he pick up that this was supposed to be something different now that he wasn't wearing it?

He didn't want to dress up too much, just in case Patrick wasn't feeling the same way, so instead he settled on a clean, white t-shirt and a red flannel he happened to find in the bottom of his closet. Taking Joe's advice about the guys in tight jeans, Pete decided to wear the skinniest pair of jeans he had, which happened to be his sister's.

Surely this was a good look? It was dressed up, but not too much. Just enough to say hey, yeah, I love going out to eat Mexican food with my completely platonic friend on Valentine's day, right? Or maybe, if viewed in a different light it might look more like, hey, yeah, I love wearing wrinkly flannels with ball hugging skinny jeans with my completely gay boyfriend on Valentine's Day!

He shrugged in front of the mirror as he tried to fix his hair one last time. He wasn't really sure which one of those he looked more like, but he hoped both of them at least made him look nice. It was all up to Patrick, he supposed.

The drive over to Patrick's house took around thirty minutes, which was a long time to go over everything in his head. Should he buy flowers? After all, he was hoping this was a date. But what if Patrick didn't take it that way? He could buy chocolate, chocolate was always a safe bet. But he wasn't sure which kind of chocolate was Patrick's favorite and he didn't want to waste his money on expensive chocolates Patrick might not even like. 

“You don't need to get him flowers,” Pete told himself. “You're taking him out to eat. That should be good enough, right?”

He was give minutes away from Patrick's house before he decided to turn around and go back to the florist about ten minutes away and get some type of flowers. This was a date-thing, so he should do something that makes it a date-thing!

Most of the Valentine's Day rush was already gone by the time Pete got there, along with most of the flowers. He settled for a mix of flowers that, if he was a little honest, were too ugly of a mix of colors to be as expensive as they were.

He was about five minutes away from Patrick's house, again, when he lost his nerve and threw them out the window.

“That would have been embarrassing,” Pete said. “Showing up with flowers. God, what was I thinking?”

By the time he got to Patrick's place he was almost forty minutes late. Patrick was sitting outside on the porch of his parents house, messing around on his phone, when Pete pulled up. There was clearly an annoyed look on Patrick's face, which he made an attempt to smooth over as he climbed into the passenger's seat.

“What took you so long?” he asked as he buckled himself in.

“Oh, you know. The holiday has people driving like maniacs and the traffic is crazy.”

Patrick seemed to buy his story because he nodded his head and turned back to look at the road. “So where are we going again? Because I'm _starving_.”

Pete smiled at the whiny tone Patrick had taken on. “It's a Mexican restaurant Joe and I went to a few months back. They have the best queso around.”

Patrick smiled back. “Pretty tall order, considering we both know that Maria's has the best.”

“Are you kidding me? Maria's is shit!” Pete laughed. 

“Says the guy that basically drank their queso last time we were there.”

Pete rolled his eyes good naturally. “Look, all I'm saying is that this place is really good. Like, probably even better than El Molcajete's and Maria's.”

Patrick squinted his eyes. “We'll see about that.”

Before they got to the restaurant they could already tell that there was going to be a long wait before they even got inside. Apparently this place was more popular than Pete had expected.

Despite Patrick complaining earlier about how hungry he was, he didn't seem to mind having to wait for a table. They spent the next forty minutes or so trying to guess who was going to propose tonight, who was getting laid tonight, who'd already gotten laid that night, and who would be broken up by morning. Pete got sweaty thinking about that last one, wondering what Patrick thought they were going to be by the end of the night.

As far as dates went, Pete had to admit that this wasn't what someone would label as one of his most “exciting”. They weren't racing through their meal so they could start tearing each other's clothes off in the car. They weren't rubbing their feet up and down each other's legs to give the other one a hint as to what else they could be doing. And so far, there had been no “sexy eating”, showing each other exactly what they would do once the clothes came off. Then again, Pete didn't think licking a taco was going to get the message of what he wanted to do to Patrick through as well as he had hoped.

Despite the fact that it wasn't as sexually charged as some of his dates usually are, that didn't mean that it was boring. He and Patrick were already best friends, which meant there was none of the awkward pauses or questions that usually happen on first dates. Instead it was a steady rhythm of teasing, joking, and playfulness that he had come to associate with Patrick.

When the time came for them to leave, Pete made sure to cut ahead of Patrick and pay for both of their meals. 

“I'm the one who invited you out, right? That means I should pay then,” Pete said.

Patrick seemed suspicious but shrugged it off. If Pete wanted to waste his money on his food, then he certainly wasn't going to complain.

Despite their full stomachs, they decided to walk around a nearby park. The late hour and the cold of Chicago in February combined seemed intent on leaving Pete and Patrick the only ones left in the park. It seemed that instead of staying and freezing body parts off, most couples had decided to go back to their nice, cozy homes to continue the date.

Pete thought about his dirty apartment and then about Patrick's room in his parent's house. The last one was surely out, as there was no way Pete could take a date seriously if it led to them going back and literally having to sneak into his room like a couple of high school kids. They were going to be rock stars, and rock stars don't have to sneak past their own parent's watchful eyes to make out.

Which led to him thinking about his own apartment. It was a wreck and smelled like dirty socks right now, as neither he nor Joe had truly mastered the whole 'doing laundry' thing. But it was empty, and Joe had be thoughtful enough to clear out for the night...

Pete glanced over at Patrick, who was shivering despite his two layers of jackets. Did it seem like he had dressed up for the night? Sure, one of the hoodies he was wearing was new, but the old jean jacket over the top had been worn on a thousand outings before tonight. Had he done something to his hair? It was hard to tell, as it had been shoved under a beanie that Patrick had taken to wearing all the time.

“Come on, let's go,” Pete said, motioning for Patrick to follow him.

“Go where?” Patrick asked, falling into step right beside him.

“I'm going to take you home. It's getting kind of late and unless you want to freeze your ass off, we should probably go.”

Pete tried to calm himself on the way back to Patrick's. It was nearing the end of their “date”and this would be the real test of whether or not Patrick actually thought it was a date. How was he going to say good night?

Would it be the way they always had, with a 'see ya later, man,' tossed over his shoulder as he got out? What about a hug or a meaningful look or, oh God, what about a kiss? If he kissed him then Pete would definitely know what Patrick had thought about the date.

Unless he hadn't liked the date. What if he had understood completely that this was a date, and just hadn't enjoyed himself? He was sure that had to be the worst option. 

By the time they reached Patrick's house Pete was sweating bullets. 

Patrick unbuckled his seat belt and looked over and Pete. “Are you okay?” he asked, his eyes roving over Pete with suspicion.

“Yeah,” Pete said. “I'm great.” He tried to force enthusiasm into his voice, but it ended up just making him sound like a nervous chipmunk.

“You're acting weird, you know that?” Patrick said.

Pete shrugged, not really sure what else to say.

Patrick squinted his eyes at him until he seemed to be satisfied by what he saw. He reached a hand over to the handle of the car door and proceeded to get out.

“I'll walk you up,” Pete said and climbed out of the car before he had even thought about it.

Patrick looked confused, but continued on. “Okay, then?”

The walk to Patrick's front door was short, way shorter than Pete had ever remembered. Now was the moment of truth...

“This was fun. We should do more things with just the two of us,” Patrick said as he unlocked the door. Light spilled out from the inside, exposing how red Patrick's face and exposed ears were. Was it because of the cold, or something else?

“Yeah, totally,” Pete said, kind of enchanted with this view of Patrick he now had.

“Well, I guess goodnight, dude,” Patrick said. And then he walked straight into his house, waved at Pete, and shut the door.

Pete stood there for a second, too stunned to do anything. The night had ended like any other regular night, which shouldn't have hurt as much as it did. That meant that he had spent a great night with his best friend. And yet, he'd hoped it had been more than that.

He shuffled his way back to his car, trying to wrap his head around what had happened. Had he just not been interested in Pete? Or had he not even realized that this had been a date? Dammit, he knew he should have kept the flowers.

He sat in his car with his head on his steering wheel for a few moments. He knew that he was being a bit of a drama queen, but he couldn't help it. He felt like he just had his heart ripped out by someone who didn't even know it had happened...

A knock on the window of his driver's side door nearly gave him a heart attack. He jumped and accidentally slammed the horn with his palm, scaring not only himself, but also Patrick who was standing outside.

“Damn, Pete,” Patrick said, as Pete rolled down his window. “What the hell was that for?”

“You scared the shit out of me!” Pete said. “What are you doing back out here?”

Patrick shrugged. “I forgot something.”

“What did you forget?” Pete asked, glancing over to see if there was anything obvious in the passenger's seat.

“This.”

And with that one word, Patrick leaned his head back into Pete's car and kissed him right on the lips. It was a slow kiss, one that showed neither one of them was in a hurry to end it.

When Patrick pulled back he had the biggest grin on his face. Pete knew his own look was a bit of a dazed and goofy one. 

“What was that for?” Pete asked.

“For such a great date,” Patrick said.

“So you knew it was a date? This whole time?” 

Patrick shook his head and leaned onto his arms that dangled into Pete's car. “Nah, not the whole time. I figured if this was a date there'd be flowers or chocolates or something.”

Pete stared at him in disbelief, before cracking up laughing. His whole body seemed to shake with the relief and disbelief of the situation.

“I did buy you flowers,” Pete said.

Patrick furrowed his brows. “Oh really? Then where are they?”

His smile grew even bigger. “I threw them out the window. I was worried you'd think it was weird that I got your flowers or something.”

“You threw my flowers out the window?” 

“They were ugly flowers.”

“So you got me ugly flowers and then threw them out the window?” Patrick asked.

Pete held his hands up. “Listen, I feel like this is going to just get worse and worse for me the more I talk.” He poked at Patrick's arm after a moment of silence. “So, when did you realize this was a date after all?”

Patrick leaned in a bit closer, so close their heads were almost touching. “When I looked out the window and saw that you'd basically brained yourself on the steering wheel.”

Pete leaned forward and pressed a light kiss to Patrick's nose. “I owe you so many flowers now.”

“Yeah you do. And chocolates.”

Pete pouted playfully. “And what do I get out of this?”

Patrick walked around to the other side of the car and climbed back in. 

“How about I show you?” he said, and then pulled him in for a deep kiss.

By the end of their relationship, Pete was pretty positive he was going to own a flower shop.

**Author's Note:**

> This is actually based on the first "date" my now boyfriend tried to take me on. I didn't realize it was a date, so I ended it with "bye friend!" and ran inside, literally leaving him in the rain. Glad this ended better for them than it did for him that night...


End file.
